View full sizeScott Harmsen | Kalamazoo GazetteA Brazilian company called JBS, which purchased the former Murco slaughterhouse in Gun Plain Township south of Plainwell, is proposing to invest $43 million in the plant to rebuild it and add a large freezer section.

GUN PLAIN TOWNSHIP — JBS has even bigger plans for the proposed expansion of its slaughterhouse and production facility just south of the city of Plainwell.

Officials from the Brazil-based meatpacking giant visited with residents, elected leaders and others at a meeting July 28. There, the company announced that it wanted to invest more than $100 million into the plant — nearly $40 million more than it originally planned, said Gun Plain Township Supervisor Mike VanDenBerg.

The first stage of expansion would expand freezer space at the plant, located on 11th Street just north of West Baseline Road. The second stage would expand general plant space to accommodate more cattle processing.

Slaughter capacity would be raised from the current 1,800 to 1,900 head of cattle to 2,200 head.

The expansions would result in about 170 new, permanent jobs at the plant, 70 more than originally planned, VanDenBerg said. The plant currently has about 1,000 employees.

JBS meatpacking plant

What: Expansion of freezer space and slaughter, production and grinding capacity.

Cost: About $100 million.

Jobs: About 170 new, permanent jobs.

Construction time: 18 months.

Proposed tax breaks: $11,347,000.

The additional investment comes from a JBS plan to re-locate meat grinding operations it currently has at a facility in Green Bay, Wis., to the Plainwell plant, VanDenBerg said.

“We’re excited they’re willing to invest more,” he said. “It caught us all by surprise.”But before ground can be broken on the project, township officials have some work to do.

The township’s Planning Commission has to approve JBS’s site plan for the expansions, which is expected to arrive at the township’s office today, VanDenBerg said. The commission will take up the issue at its Aug. 18 meeting at 7 p.m.

The Board of Trustees also must approve a tax abatement proposal, which VanDenBerg expects to receive by next week. Previous board discussions on the issue pegged the abatement at 50 percent over six or 12 years.

The company is pushing for a 12-year abatement, with the board needing to make a decision on the length of the tax break. The board will take up the issue at its Sept. 2 meeting at 7 p.m.

A draft letter from the Michigan Economic Development Corp., a state agency charged with developing incentive packages for companies looking to expand or locate to Michigan, indicates that total state and local tax breaks for the project — at 50 percent over 12 years — add up to $11,347,000, VanDenBerg said. The township’s share of that total comes in at $4.6 million.

The MEDC still needs to sign-off on the incentive package.

VanDenBerg said that if the Planning Commission approves the site plan, JBS could theoretically begin construction at once. However, he didn’t know if the company was planning to do so.

JBS wants to have both phases completed in 18 months, he said, significantly shorter than the two to three year time-span it originally said the project would take.

Work on a company-desired, $1,150,000 project to rebuild 12th Street in Kalamazoo County’s Cooper Township from C Avenue to the Allegan County line, and 11th Street from the county line to the plant, is on track, VanDenBerg said.

The Kalamazoo and Allegan county road commissions are working together on the project. Kalamazoo County Road Commission plans to do the lion’s share of the work, as 2.25 miles of the 2.5 mile total stretch lies in Kalamazoo County, which is spending $1.05 million on its share of the work.

Funding would mostly come from a mix of state and federal grants and, to a lesser extent, road commission funds.

JBS is still looking at perhaps expanding a facility it operates in Utah that is similar to the one near Plainwell instead of the Plainwell plant. VanDenBerg is being cautiously optimistic while noting the benefits of the potential expansion taking place here.

“This is a once in a lifetime deal,” VanDenBerg said. “Something like this doesn’t come your way that often.”